1. June 6, 1944 D-Day Normandy, France
“Operation Overlord”
June 6, 1944
D-Day
Normandy, France

2. Important People
Dwight D. Eisenhower -  U.S. general and supreme commander of Allied forces in western Europe; planned Normandy invasion.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt- Orders the attack/invasion of France.

3. Map of D-Day Invasion

5. Background
By early 1944, the Allies, under the leadership of U.S. general Dwight D. Eisenhower, had been planning an invasion of France for more than a year.
The Germans, anticipating such an invasion since 1942, had begun building the Atlantic Wall, a series of heavily armed fortifications all along the French coast.
As the Allied invasion plan became more specific, it was dubbed Operation Overlord, and preparations and training for the mission began in earnest.

6. Background Continued
As part of the invasion plan, the Allies instigated a mass disinformation campaign in hopes of directing German forces away from the actual landing point.
As part of this effort, the Allies made use of German spies in Britain who had been turned and were serving as double agents.
These double agents helped convince the German leadership that the invasion would take place near Calais, the point where the English Channel was narrowest, when in fact the invasion was targeted farther south, in Normandy.

7. June 6th 1944
D-Day-The invasion was launched early in the morning of June 6, 1944
—the famous D-Day—barely a day after U.S. troops had liberated the Italian capital of Rome.
Overnight, roughly 20,000 British and American airborne troops had been dropped by parachute and glider a short distance inland of the Normandy coast, ordered to do as much damage as possible to the German fortified coastal defenses.

8. June 6th 1944
Meanwhile, over 6,000 ships were making their way across the English Channel to deliver a huge expeditionary force onto five separate beaches between Cherbourg and Caen.
The first wave alone brought 150,000 Allied soldiers to the French shore, and over the coming weeks, more than 2 million more would enter France via the Normandy beaches—to this day the largest seaborne invasion in history.

9. June 6th 1944
Opposing the invaders were thousands of German troops manning the fortifications above the beaches.
The first day of the invasion was costly for the Allies in terms of casualties—especially at one landing point, Omaha Beach—but the Germans were vastly outnumbered and rapidly overwhelmed by the incoming forces.

10. June 6th 1944
The German high command still believed that a larger invasion was imminent at Calais or elsewhere, so they withheld reserve forces in the area from moving against the Normandy invaders.
The Allies therefore accomplished nearly all of their set objectives for the first day, which included fully securing the landing areas.

11. 3 Reasons why it is Important
D-Day was so important because it was the day that the Allied nations grabbed their first strong foothold on Europe.
Turned the tide of the war in the Allied favor
It was the beginning of the end of the war because from the beach of Normandy the push into France and eventually Germany commenced.
Gave a model of success displaying cooperation between nation’s armies.

12. Summary Page
This page(s) is for you to re-emphasize why your battle is the most important battle of WWII.
Did it turn a tide?
Did it boost morale?
Did it show international cooperation?
Did it lead to another battle? Make another battle possible?
Did it end the war?
Did it show determination in a country’s armed forces?
Did it send a message?